Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) blog on competitive gaming in South Africa from proto-computer gaming all the way through to the most modern. For more about MSSA go to: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa/

Saturday, 4 April 2015

Generally Accepted Rules for the game of Morabaraba

The official board for all competitions with notation (courtesy Mind Sports South Africa)

MORABARABA/UMLABALABA

The
Playing Board

Morabaraba
is a game for two players, and although played under different names,
is played extensively throughout Africa, Asia and Europe.

General:

The
rules for the version, as depicted in the above image, are known as
the Generally Accepted Rules (GAR).

For
competition play, the board may be made of any material as long as
the board has the approved notation which is owned by the
International Wargames Federation.

Board
sizes are:

For
Provincial, National, and International Championships – 490mm x
490mm (Cows being 45mm in diameter and 5mm in depth), and

All
other competitions – 300mm x 300mm (Cows being 30mm in diameter
and 10mm in depth).

Each
player is issued with a set of 12 cows. One set being of a dark
colour, and one set being of a light colour.

The
colour white may not be used for cows as the colour may confuse
players as to whether a cow has been placed.

Only
players who have won MSSA's national championships, or who have
received Protea Colours for the game of Morabaraba, may use cows
which are green in colour. Such cows are awarded by the MSSA in
numbered sets. Such players have the right to use such cows instead
of any such cows as supplied by any Tournament organiser in any
event falling under the jurisdiction of the MSSA.

The
outside ring is known as the “Exterior Ring” and the junctions
are numbered clockwise from from the top left hand corner E1 to E8.

The
middle ring is known as the “Principle Ring” and the junctions
are numbered clockwise from from the top left hand corner A1 to A8.

The
inner ring is known as the “Restricted Ring” and the junctions
are numbered clockwise from from the top left hand corner R1 to R8.

The
notation was developed by Dr. Evgenii Rabiner.

Notation
shall be scored as follows:

When
placing cows – just write the junction's address, that is “A1”,
or “E5”, etc.

When
moving cows – write down the initial junction's address with a
hyphen and then the final function's address, for example: “A1 –
A8”

When
moving a cow to form a line and 'shooting' one of your opponent's
cows, write down the initial junction's address with a hyphen an
then the final function's address a multiplication sign and the
address of the cow that has just been 'shot', for example: “A1 –
A8 x E1”

Notation
of a typical game may appear as follows:

The
notation for the board is owned by the International Wargames
Federation, and boards are readily available from Mind Sports South
Africa (MSSA).

How
to play:

Play
consists of three stages:

Stage
1:

Each
player starts with 12 tokens called "cows".

The
player who has been allocated the dark colour begins.

Starting
with a clear board, each player alternatively places one cow at a
time on a junction (circle). The aim is to create rows of three,
either vertically, diagonally, or horizontally. Cows may only be
placed on unoccupied junctions.

When
three-in-a-row is achieved, the player may remove (shoot) one of the
opponent's cows. A player can not shoot an opponent's
"three-in-a-row" cows if there are other cows on the board
left to shoot.

Only
one of the opponent's cows may be shot at a time, even if two (or
more) lines of three-in-a-row are achieved with one move.

Once
a cow is shot, it shall not be used in play again.

Stage
2

When
all twelve cows of each player have been placed on the board as per
Stage 1, cows may be moved from one junction to another. A move
consists of moving a cow from one junction to an unoccupied junction
immediately linked and adjacent to that junction.

Players
may break their own lines of three-in-a-row in order to make new
lines, or simply reposition their cows.

Cows
may be moved back and forth to the same two junctions repeatedly. A
three-in-a-row may be made, broken and remade repeatedly.

Notwithstanding
the rule that lines may be broken and remade repeatedly, if a player
breaks a line to immediately create a new line of three ‘cows’,
such player may not move such cow back to the original junction in
his/her next move, if it creates a new line.

For
example:

Should
a player have a ‘cow’ on the junction marked E6, such player may
move it to the junction marked as A6 to immediately create a new
line. However, in such player’s next move, he/she may not move the
cow back to A6, instead, such player must do a different move before
moving the cow back to E6 to immediately create a new line.

Each
time a three-in-a-row is remade, an opponent's cow shall be shot.

Stage
3

When
a player has lost all but three cows, then a player may move a cow
to any vacant junction on the board with each move.

Winning
the game

The
game is won when the opponent cannot move any cows: or when the
opponent has lost all but two cows.

When
a player is down to three cows, and neither player is able to shoot
an opponent's cow within ten moves, the game is a draw.

For
National Championships and National Team Trials, failure to hand in
a correct Notation Sheet is an automatic loss.

Competition
rules

Boards
and counters shall be provided for the competitors.

A
modified Swiss Chess system will operate throughout the competition.
Players shall not play against any relatives in the first degree of
consanguinity. Thus a player would not be allowed to play against
his/her spouse, parent, brother, sister, and/or child. Additionally
where possible a player will not be drawn against any fellow club or
team member in the first two rounds of the competition.

The
current IWF scoring system shall be used, that is 1 point for a
victory, ½ a point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss per game.

Each
player shall play six games against each opponent. Each player shall
start three of such games.